Climate change-induced flooding has devastated the lives of people living on the Indian and Nepalese sides of the Hindu Kush Himalaya. Although the floods have destroyed their lives and livelihoods, as this cross-border collaboration narrates, neither community has received any substantial compensation.
Girl refugees from Niger now living in Benin, often end up as child brides. Graphic: IPS
By Issa Sikiti da Silva
COTONOU/BENIN , Apr 26 2024 – A group of young girls aged between 15 and 17 sit tight, following attentively a lesson being taught by a Mualim (Islamic teacher) in a makeshift madrassah (Qur’anic school) located in one of the impoverished townships of Benin’s economic capital, Cotonou. They arrived in Benin recently, fleeing poverty, hunger, climate change, and rising insecurity in their home country, Niger, in the aftermath of the military coup that toppled democratically-elected president Mohamed Bazoum.
Among them are Saida, 15, and Aminata, 16, who are already “married” to Abdou, 22, and Anwar, 25, two Niger youths who have been living in Benin for some time. The lessons are over and Saida heads outside the overcrowded compound where her husband, Abdou, came to pick up his wife on a rundown motorbike.
“She has not been feeling well lately and I think she might be pregnant,” Abdou says without embarrassment. Asked about the circumstances leading to the couple becoming husband and wife, he says: “If in Benin or where you come from, this seems strange, it is normal in Niger for a young girl to become someone’s wife as soon as she reaches 15.”
Niger has one of highest prevalence rates of child marriages in the world, where 76% of girls are married before their 18th birthday and 28% are married before the age of 15, according to Girls Not Brides figures.
Child marriage is most prevalent in Maradi (where 89% of women aged 20–24 were already married by age of 18), Zinder (87%), Diffa (82%) and Tahoua (76%). Girls as young as 10 years old in some regions are married, and after the age of 25, only a handful of young women are unmarried, according to the Girls Not Brides statistics.
Steady increase
However, Abdou says there has been a steady increase in such cases since the military coup due to the social and economic meltdown triggered by regional and international sanctions, which left Niger’s economy hanging in balance. France, a former colonial power, suspended development and budget aid to Niger, vowing not to recognize the new military authorities. In 2021, The French Development Agency (AFD) committed €97 million to Niger. Moreover, the World Bank recently warned that 700,000 more people will fall into extreme poverty this year in Niger. In addition, nearly two million children could be out of school, including 800,000 girls.
Multiple suspensions of development aid from several countries and organizations will result in a shortfall of nearly US$1.2 billion in 2024 (more than 6% of the country’s GDP).
“Life has become unlivable since the coup and the closure of borders. In addition, insecurity has risen, forcing farmers to stay away from their fields. In other parts, climate change has rendered farmland useless; it is a triple tragedy for Niger, but the authorities continue to talk nonsense on TV,” says a Benin-based Islamic teacher identified only as Oumarou, who fled to Cotonou in the aftermath of the coup.
“And as a result, many families are left penniless and dependent on humanitarian assistance. Consequently, some families are seeking help from their relatives and family friends living in Benin and Togo to take their daughters under their care. Niger’s people help each other a lot and prioritize community life over individual interests.
“The girls arrive in these two countries and are quickly dispatched to Niger’s households, where they work as domestic workers without pay. Yes, they don’t get paid because they eat and sleep there and are made to feel as if they are part of the family.”
However, Oumarou says that as time goes by, these people begin to feel that they can no longer carry the burden. That is where they pass a message through the elders to Niger youths who want a wife to come and discuss.
Suitors wanted
“As soon as a suitor is found, we inform the girls’ parents, who, in most cases, do not hesitate to allow the marriage to proceed. As God-fearing people, we cannot let the youth take a girl without doing a formal religious ceremony.
Asked if he was aware that he was committing a crime by acting as an accomplice to child marriages, he became defensive and politicized the issue: “What’s criminal and illegal in that procedure? How can you describe our good gesture to help these poverty-stricken girls rebuild their lives as a crime?
“Okay, if it’s indeed a crime. How do you say about France, which has been stealing our natural resources, notably our uranium, for decades without giving us anything in return? And what about the crimes committed by the West during the colonial era in Africa? Did anyone investigate those crimes and bring the perpetrators to book or make reparations for what they did?” the man said, storming out of the room where the interview was taking place.
However, not everyone in Niger is God-fearing and therefore does not follow the religious procedure. Anwar says her wife told him that she owes him her life after rescuing her from the abusive family where she was working as a donkey.
“I have been taking care of her ever since as a wife and a little sister. I don’t need anyone’s permission or blessings to make her my wife. We have been living under the same roof since last year and that’s a sign of marriage,” he says with a wide smile.
Aminata describes the hell she went through while working for one of these families. “They make you work like a slave, right from Fajr [Islamic dawn prayer] up to Isha [evening prayer] and even beyond. It’s very stressful. Most of the time, you don’t even eat well. They keep yelling at you whenever you make a slight mistake. Anwar is a good man and a caring husband,” she says through a translator.
Anwar says most of these girls do not have a formal (western) education. “That’s why they cannot understand French. They only speak their vernacular language and some Arabic because they only attend Qur’anic school.”
Niger has one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world, and very few girls attend formal school, as priority is given to boys. The Niger literacy rate for 2021 was 37.34%, a 2.29% increase from 2018.
Factors that contribute to this, including high dropout rates, high illiteracy rates, insufficient resources and infrastructure, unqualified teachers, weak local governance structures, and high vulnerability to instability, have been blamed for the low level of educational attainment, according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
“I want to ensure that she gets a good education now that she is in Benin, far away from that rotten country, where the system does not allow girls, especially in the rural areas, to attend school,” Anwar, who himself did not finish high school, says.
Niger girls no longer “God-fearing”?
While child brides jostle for makeshift husbands to take care of them away from their impoverished and famine-hit country, in other parts of Benin, street life has become the way of survival for some Niger women. “Niger men used to mock us, saying that their women were God-fearing and not immoral like us. Now the trend has been reversed. Look at the way those two Niger girls out there are shoving for a wealthy client,” Susan, a Beninese sex worker, says.
She claims the girls arrive in the “workplace” every evening well covered from head to toe but take it off and put on some sexy clothes, only to wear them again after the end of the shift. “Now, who fears God the most? The hypocrites or the people like us who have nothing to hide?”
Prostitution is illegal but remains prevalent in big cities and near major mining and military sites. UNAIDS estimates there are 46,630 sex workers in the country. Some sources say poverty, forced marriages, rising insecurity, and climate change continue to push many girls into prostitution, sometimes with the complicity of their families and marabouts (witchdoctors).
A source close to Nigerian and Ivorian pimping syndicates says there is a huge appetite for Niger girls in several countries across the region, including Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, and Ghana. Asked why it is the case, the source says: “From what I heard, girls from other countries, including Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria, have been used many times and are big-headed, while Niger girls seem fresh, disciplined, respectful, and docile. That’s why they make good wives. The demand has been growing since the coup.”
The source says the three countries (Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger) desire to quit the regional bloc, Ecowas, will have a negative effect on the sex trafficking business as it will curtail the free movement of people and goods across the region. According to a 2022 report by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), women and girls constitute 69% of victims and survivors of trafficking in Niger.
While Niger’s military authorities reinforce their grip on power and castigate the West’s neo-colonialist and imperialist attitude and Ecowas’ interference in Niger’s internal affairs, life seems to be getting harder in this uranium-producing West African nation, forcing thousands of underage girls and women to seek a better life elsewhere.
A researcher who recently returned to Benin from Niger says: “You must live in Niger right now to understand what is going on there. Forget what you see on state TV. If residents of the big cities, like the capital Niamey, are trying harder to stay alive, many people are hopeless in the countryside because the humanitarian situation is terrific.
“Those who say development aid does not work are lying because they have never been on the ground to see for themselves.”
Note: The names have been changed to protect their identities.
IPS UN Bureau Report
Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza form a line to collect water in an Oxfam distribution. Credit: Oxfam
By Jacob Batinga
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, Apr 26 2024 – As we pass 200 days of war, the population of northern Gaza is teetering on the brink of mass starvation. Oxfam analysis found that the 300,000 people in northern Gaza had been forced to survive on an average of 245 calories per day from January to March—less than a single can of beans, and well below the recommended daily intake of 2,100 calories.
While we have seen an uptick in the flow of aid entering Gaza in recent weeks, the trickle of humanitarian assistance combined with an absence of commerce and public services are nowhere near sufficient to address widespread hunger or the shelter, hygiene, and sanitation conditions that are fatal in these circumstances.
The last report from the Integrated Phase Classification system, the official body that collects and analyzes food security data, found that would occur in northern Gaza by May at the latest. Dozens of children have already died from starvation and malnutrition, often worsened by disease, and two out of the three criteria for declaring famine have already been met.
Since an official declaration is a lagging indicator, it is quite possible that famine already exists in areas of northern Gaza. We cannot wait for a famine declaration to act to prevent the needless, widespread death of civilians,
While the threat of starvation is most severe in the north, malnutrition is ubiquitous throughout Gaza. The IPC’s report in March found that almost everyone in Gaza was facing “high levels of acute food insecurity,” with 95% of the population in a Phase 3 food crisis or worse. In the month since the report was release, conditions have deteriorated further.
In addition to the limited availability of food, the ability to find or buy a nutritious, varied diet is not feasible across Gaza. For the little fruit and vegetables still available, extreme price rises due to scarcity have put them out of reach for most people. Specialized nutrition products and centers to treat malnourished children are difficult or impossible to find.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of extreme hunger, the government of Israel’s obstruction of humanitarian access persists. But denial of humanitarian access is not the only issue. While increasing the quantities of food entering Gaza would be a welcome step, a proper response to this catastrophe simply cannot be implemented under present conditions.
Hunger and its impacts are not only due to lack of food, but also are exacerbated by Israel’s near-complete destruction of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure. Over 200 days of incessant bombardment has decimated Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure, water and sanitation services—including Oxfam-supported projects—and emergency response support, leaving people even more vulnerable to deadly disease.
The government of Israel has not restored the flow of electricity and has dramatically curtailed the importation of fuel, without which wells, water treatment facilities, bakeries, hospitals, and individual businesses and households. This collapse of vital services and infrastructure means that our calculations of food trucks entering Gaza gives only a partial view of the need.
An increase in caloric intake is not all that is necessary to combat extreme hunger – acute malnutrition requires immediate medical intervention, especially for children. This kind of medical intervention is simply not possible while bombs continue to fall and amid the collapse of essential.
Our colleagues in Gaza at Oxfam and partner organizations are under constant risk of bombardment. Almost all staff in Gaza have been displaced, often multiple times, and many are living in tents or makeshift shelters with their families. They are struggling to find food for themselves and their families, regularly skipping meals for days at a time so their children can eat.
They face constant risks to their lives: with over 200 killed since October, Gaza is the deadliest place in the world to be an aid worker. Under these unimaginable circumstances, Oxfam and partners are still bravely distributing what they can in the form of food, clean water, materials to provide safer sanitation, and hygiene products. However, the kind of humanitarian response necessary to stave off the threat of famine cannot even begin under these conditions.
Even as children are starved to death and aid workers are routinely killed in Israeli airstrikes, the Biden administration is doubling down on providing weapons and aid for Israel’s military operation in Gaza. Recently proposed transfers included some of the highest risk weapons, like the MK-84 2,000-pound bomb, which have flattened entire neighborhoods and are implicated in some of the highest casualty attacks in Gaza.
To maintain its policy of unconditional military support for Israel, the administration is taking its ‘see no evil, hear no evil’ policy to absurd and deadly lengths, refusing to even condition, much less suspend, arms transfers to Israel. The United States must halt its arms sales to Israel and recognize its own contribution to Gaza’s still climbing death toll. This is long overdue.
Oxfam is calling for a permanent ceasefire, the return of all hostages and the release of unlawfully detained Palestinian prisoners, for countries to immediately stop supplying arms to Israel and Palestinian armed groups, and for full humanitarian aid access.
The global response for Gaza must include both adequate and nutritious food for everyone, the full restoration of hospitals and health services, water, and sanitation infrastructure and for all reconstruction materials to be allowed across the border.
Every day without a ceasefire is a day closer to exponential death and suffering in Gaza. We must see action now.
Jacob Batinga is Oxfam America Humanitarian Policy Fellow.
IPS UN Bureau
Dr. Anne Larigauderie, IPBES Executive Secretary
By Anne Larigauderie
BONN, Germany, Apr 26 2024 – In December 2022, the fifteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) saw governments worldwide unite behind a set of ambitious targets aimed at addressing biodiversity loss and restoring natural ecosystems, through the Global Biodiversity Framework – known now as the Biodiversity Plan.
As the world gears up to meet these critical commitments for people and nature, success depends very directly on the concrete choices and actions of people from every region, across all disciplines and at every level of decision-making. In this collaborative effort, non-governmental stakeholders of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) are vital actors, in addition to the 146 Governments who are members of IPBES.
But who are IPBES stakeholders? Any individual or organization that can benefit from or contribute to the science-policy work of IPBES is an IPBES stakeholder. They include individual scientists, knowledge-holders, experts and practitioners, as well as institutions, organizations, and groups operating within and beyond the fields of biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people.
There are two main self-organized groups of IPBES stakeholders: ONet and IIFBES. ONet provides a broad space for individuals and organizations to exchange knowledge, align actions and deepen engagement with the work of IPBES—with subgroups from the social sciences, young career researchers and many more. IIFBES is a network to bring together the expertise, perspectives and interests of Indigenous Peoples and local communities interested in IPBES’s work. Both of these ‘umbrella’ groups are instrumental in amplifying diverse voices, knowledge systems, and experience, to strengthen science-policy for biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. This is important not only in support of IPBES, but also to the success of the Biodiversity Plan.
IPBES stakeholders contribute to the achievement of the Biodiversity Plan in three distinct ways. Firstly, they fortify the scientific foundations underpinning policies to protect biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people. Their expertise, channeled into the IPBES assessments, was instrumental in shaping the targets and indicators of the Biodiversity Plan. IPBES stakeholders will also continue to play a central role in ensuring that the actions to meet these targets are grounded in robust scientific knowledge and evidence.
Secondly, IPBES stakeholders are equipped with the resources and tools provided by IPBES: including Assessment Reports and their summaries for policymakers, to advocate for and effect change. These resources offer invaluable insights into national, regional, and global thematic issues. When considered by decision-makers, they become catalysts for evidence-based policies. Effective dissemination and uptake of these resources are paramount in translating global targets into tangible, on-the-ground initiatives that address local challenges. Consequently, stakeholders can make a substantial contribution by widely disseminating IPBES products and providing information for their effective use.
Thirdly, IPBES stakeholders have a tremendous opportunity to engage in the international forums where policy decisions are explored and made. Their active involvement and participation in decision-making bodies within these forums, coupled with their own extensive networks, foster the exchange of knowledge and resources. Collaborations forged in these settings bridge the gap between science and policy. Many IPBES stakeholders are active participants in the CBD processes, for instance, facilitating the exchange of information between these two bodies and thereby driving the Biodiversity Plan’s effective implementation.
Only through collective action and close collaboration between international institutions, policy actors, scientists, local and Indigenous communities, and other relevant stakeholders can we seamlessly translate science into policy and practice, ultimately achieving the goals of the Biodiversity Plan. This is why more individuals and organizations should seize the opportunity to become active IPBES stakeholders. Joining the IPBES community is not only a commitment to a sustainable future for people and nature but is also a positive response to the pressing global biodiversity crisis.
Dr. Anne Larigauderie is the Executive Secretary of IPBES (www.ipbes.net) – the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, which provides objective scientific assessments about the state of knowledge regarding the planet’s biodiversity, ecosystems and the contributions they make to people, as well as options and actions to protect and sustainably use these vital natural assets.
IPS UN Bureau
Preschool teacher Iris Mejías and her husband Alexis García, a retired university professor, stand next to the geomembrane biodigester that since December 2023 provides about four cubic meters of biogas daily for their agricultural activities and the needs of their home in the semi-urban neighborhood of Sierra Maestra, in the municipality of Boyeros on the south side of Havana. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS
By Luis Brizuela
HAVANA, Apr 26 2024 – Just to obtain a good fertilizer it was worth building a biodigester, says Cuban farmer Alexis García, who proudly shows the vegetables in his family’s garden, as well as the wide variety of fruit trees that have benefited from biol, the end product of biogas technology.
García and his wife Iris Mejías organically grow all the agricultural products that make them self-sufficient, on the land around their home in the semi-urban neighborhood of Sierra Maestra, in the municipality of Boyeros on the south side of Havana.“We need a greater culture and awareness about renewable energies. There is resistance among some places and people. On the other hand, there are the high prices which do not foment the rapid expansion of technologies and equipment.” — Alexis García
“I used to use a little urea, but because of the economic situation it has become very difficult to import this and other fertilizers. The bioproducts are an opportunity to make up for that shortage and, in some cases, function as pesticides,” García, a 62-year-old retired university professor who is now dedicated to his crops, told IPS.
Biol is the liquid effluent with a certain degree of stabilization that comes out of the biodigester, once the process of anaerobic digestion of organic matter, which includes animal manure, crop waste and/or liquid waste, has been completed. It is rich in nutrients for crops and for restoring soil through fertigation.
García pointed out that the challenges of obtaining energy and the need to process manure prompted the installation of the geomembrane biodigester, which as of December 2023 provides about four cubic meters of biogas per day.
This is one of the three types of biodigesters most used at a small and medium scale in Cuba, together with the mobile type, also known as the Indian model, and the fixed dome or Chinese biodigester.
“I had read a little about it and wanted to have a biodigester. With some savings we decided to start building one. In addition to the support of our sons Alexis and Alexei, we had the backing and advice of José Antonio Guardado,” coordinator of the Biogas Users Movement (MUB), said García.
Founded in 1983, the MUB brings together some 3,000 farmers who use this technology in this Caribbean island nation of 11 million people.
Preschool teacher Iris Mejías uses biogas to cook food, which gives her autonomy, saves money and improves the quality of life in her home in the south of the Cuban capital. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS
Biogas opportunities
Mejías, 59, said that “with biogas you lose the fear of not having enough fuel for cooking. It provides security.”
Meiías, a teachers at a preschool for the young children of working mothers, says that when the economic crisis became more severe in the 1990s, she cooked with firewood, charcoal, kerosene and even coconut shells to prepare her family’s daily meals.
“If you cook with electrical equipment, you depend on the power supply, or if you have a gas cylinder (liquefied petroleum gas), you worry that it will run out and you won’t have a spare. In both cases the biodigester saves money,” she said.
Mejías said it is easier to cook food for domestic animals and heat water “without smut or smoke that makes it necessary to wash your hair every day or makes it difficult to take care of your hands.”
Studies show that methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with a warming power 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide (CO2).
Proper management of the biological methane resulting from the decomposition of agricultural residues and manure can generate value and be a cost-effective solution to avoid water and soil contamination.
Therefore, its extraction and use as energy, especially in rural and semi-urban environments, can be a solution to reduce electricity consumption and help combat climate change.
According to García, the island could receive greater energy benefits if there were clear incentives for the installation of biodigesters.
Although the acute domestic economic crisis has had a very negative impact on the national swine and cattle herd, “many dairies and pig farms do not know what to do with the daily output of manure. In fact, our biodigester is fed from nearby facilities where it is piled up and they give it to us for free,” he said.
Alexis García dries coffee beans next to solar panels installed on the roof of his house in southern Havana. The possibility of storing energy with the back-up of recovered batteries provides the family with approximately three hours of autonomy during blackouts. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS
Other incentives
Cuba has a biogas production potential of 615,595 cubic meters per year from agricultural and industrial production, according to the Bioenergy Atlas 2022.
That volume represents 189,227 tons of oil equivalent per year or 710,095 megawatt hours (MWh) per year. Of the total, 63 percent comes from agricultural production, he said.
In García’s opinion, Cuba’s rural environment “is in a better position to achieve the desired energy independence. But economic facilities would be necessary, such as loans for the construction of biodigesters, bonuses for people to produce that energy and access to buy lamps, pots and even refrigerators that use biogas.”
Of Cuba’s 11 million inhabitants, about 23 percent, some 2.3 million people, live in rural areas, according to official statistics.
On the other hand, it is estimated that there are some 5,000 biodigesters on the island, although conservative estimates by specialists consider it possible to expand the network to 20,000 family units.
Experts argue that the direct use of biogas is more efficient than transforming it into electricity.
A significant percentage of Cuba’s four million households use electricity as the main energy source for cooking and heating water for bathing, which represents about 40 percent of consumption.
Cuba is a country highly dependent on fuel imports.
During the last five years, in parallel to the deterioration of the domestic economic situation, the decline of the main sources of foreign currency and the strengthening of the U.S. embargo, the authorities have faced increasing difficulties in meeting the demand for fuel.
About 95 percent of Cuba’s electricity generation relies on fossil fuels. The government aims to increase clean sources from the current five percent to around 30 percent of electricity generation by 2030.
“Imagine what it would mean if not all, at least most of the houses in the Cuban countryside had a biodigester or solar panels. Any strategy that encourages independence from the national power grid, or that provides energy, would be very positive,” said García.
In recent years, the international Biomas-Cuba project (2009-2022) focused on helping to understand the importance of renewable energy sources in rural environments, the role of on-farm biodigesters and waste treatment systems in swine facilities.
The initiative, financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (Cosude), was coordinated by the Indio Hatuey Experimental Station, a research center attached to the University of the western province of Matanzas, and involved related institutions in several of the country’s 15 provinces.
Ministerial Order 395 of the Ministry of Energy and Mines of 2021 stipulated that each of Cuba’s 168 municipalities must have a biogas development program and strategy, and coordinate its management and implementation with their respective provinces.
In addition, the non-governmental Cuban Society for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources and Respect for the Environment (Cubasolar), together with the MUB, encourages training workshops and the advice of specialists.
Banana clusters can be seen growing in the backyard of the García-Mejías home in southern Havana. Both the vegetables in the nursery and the fruit trees benefit from biol, the end product of biogas technology, which provides fertilizer. CREDIT: Jorge Luis Baños / IPS
Moving towards energy independence
One of the aspirations of the García-Mejías family is to achieve energy sustainability for their home and agricultural production.
“We foresee the construction of a second biodigester, but this one will have a mobile dome, which should provide two cubic meters of biogas per day, but much more efficiently, and with a higher pressure. With a higher volume we can benefit some neighbors,” García said.
On the roof of their house, six 720-watt solar panels backed up by recovered batteries give them autonomy of approximately three hours of electricity in the event of a power failure.
“We plan to install a wind turbine, as well as a solar heater made of plastic pipes. We want to set up a demonstration area in the house to show the advantages of renewable energies and demonstrate how everything we do is done using these energy sources,” said the former professor.
“We need a greater culture and awareness about renewable energies. There is resistance among some places and people. On the other hand, there are the high prices which do not foment the rapid expansion of technologies and equipment,” García said when IPS asked him in his home about the obstacles to increasing the household use of renewables.
“People hear about the biodigester and think it’s difficult. It takes a little work, but then the benefits are many. There is a lack of information in the media. People come to us looking for help in building biodigesters. We also receive students, which opens up an opportunity for the new generations to grow up with the culture of using nature in a sustainable way,” he added.
Credit: Frederick Florin/AFP via Getty Images
By Andrew Firmin
LONDON, Apr 25 2024 – A group of senior Swiss women recently won a powerful victory offering renewed hope for tackling climate change. Earlier this month, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the government of Switzerland is violating human rights because it isn’t doing enough to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Swiss women take the lead
More than 2,000 Swiss women with an average age of 73 backed the case, coming together in the KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz (Senior Women for Climate Protection Switzerland) group. They argued that their rights to family life and privacy under the European Convention on Human Rights are being breached because they’re particularly vulnerable to premature death due to extreme heat.
The evidence from Europe’s recent heatwaves is grim: over 70,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of high temperatures in 2022. Older people are more vulnerable to heatwaves, with women the worst hit. In Switzerland, older women had the highest level of deaths during the 2022 heatwave.
The favourable ruling is a landmark. While there’ve been several judgments in favour of climate action by national-level courts in recent years, this is the first time the European Court has ruled that lack of action on climate change violates human rights, and the first time any international human rights court has recognised that people have a right to be protected from climate change.
We welcome the European Court of Human Rights @ECHR_CEDH ruling in #KlimaSeniorinnen case v. #Switzerland affirming that States have human rights obligations to sufficiently mitigate #climate change. Ruling provides a basis for determined action & justice globally – @volker_turk pic.twitter.com/NlSLzVMD3b
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) April 9, 2024
It won’t be the last. At least six more climate cases await the European Court, including one brought against the Norwegian government by Greenpeace Nordic, arguing that plans to expand fossil fuel extraction in Arctic waters violate human rights. National-level courts may also draw on the European Court’s precedent. More litigation is sure to follow.
Growing field
The case was one of three the Court considered, and the only to succeed. Lawsuits brought by a group of young Portuguese people against 32 European states and by a French politician against France were both dismissed – but on procedural grounds, rather than on the merits of the cases. The one victory was a triumph for all, since everyone will benefit from the emissions cuts that should result.
In many climate court cases, young people are making the running, rightly arguing that climate change affects them disproportionately, since it impinges on the rights of their future selves. But the young Portuguese campaigners acknowledged the vital contribution their older Swiss counterparts have made, showing how vital solidarity between generations is for civil society struggles.
Climate campaigners are making growing use of litigation to hold governments and corporations to account for their failure to act on the climate crisis. Over 1,500 climate litigation cases have been filed since the Paris Agreement was reached in 2015, and more than half have had favourable outcomes. There’s a growing trend of climate litigants framing their cases around human rights agreements they argue are being breached when governments and corporations don’t take adequate action.
Among recent successes, last November the Brussels Court of Appeal imposed a binding emissions cut target on Belgian authorities following a human rights lawsuit. That same month, a German court ruled that the government must immediately adopt an action programme on emissions targets for construction and transport. In August 2023, 16 young activists won a case in Montana, USA, with the court ruling that the state government’s policies in support of fossil fuels violate their right to a healthy environment.
Another breakthrough came in India this month when the country’s Supreme Court ruled that Indian citizens have a fundamental right to be free from the harmful impacts of climate change, on the basis that the constitution guarantees the rights to life and equality. Meanwhile human rights-based climate cases are currently proceeding in countries including Brazil, Peru and South Korea, where the Constitutional Court has just begun to hear a lawsuit brought by young people and children.
One of the rulings the Indian Supreme Court considered in coming to its conclusions was a 2015 verdict that ordered the Dutch government to take stronger action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, showing how a judgment in one jurisdiction can help build a case in another.
Open civic space needed
Legal action takes time. It took the Swiss campaigners almost eight years, having been required to exhaust all avenues offered by their domestic legal system reaching the European Court.
Litigation will remain just one of the many vital tools used by climate campaigners, alongside high-level advocacy towards national governments and in global processes such as COP climate summits, consumer pressure, shareholder activism, campaigns for fossil fuel divestment, street protests and non-violent direct action.
But at precisely the time civil society is showing how much it’s needed, its ability to act is being squeezed, particularly by restrictions on protest rights. It’s a sad fact that activists resisting fossil fuel extraction in many global south countries have long been repressed. But in a disturbing trend over the last couple of years, many global north states are targeting climate campaigners.
Recently, the German and Italian authorities have criminalised activists with laws against organised crime, police in the Netherlands have detained thousands of protesters and the UK government has passed anti-protest laws and jailed peaceful campaigners. These growing restrictions could have the effect of sapping the energies and depleting the ranks of the climate movement at a time when it’s needed the most.
European states should take heed of the European Court’s ruling, acknowledge that climate change is a human rights issue and commit to both cutting their emissions and respecting the civic space for climate activism.
Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
The Royal Air Force Lakenheath base in the United Kingdom currently operates the F-15E Eagle and the latest generation F-35A Lighting II fighter aircraft, which can both carry nuclear bombs. In January 2024, The Telegraph disclosed US plans to store nuclear weapons at Lakenheath for the first time in 15 years. Nuclear weapons are stored in underground vaults located inside aircraft shelters similar to this one at Kadena Air Base, Japan. In the 1990s, there were 33 underground storage vaults at Lakenheath. Credit: US Air Force / Omari Bernard, via DVIDS
By Janani Mohan
LONDON, Apr 25 2024 – For the first time in 15 years, the United States is reportedly planning to station nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom, a decision many experts interpret as attempting to counter growing geopolitical instability.
As the war in Ukraine rages on, nuclear posturing—including stationing nuclear weapons in other countries—is seen by nuclear powers as an important tool to prevent further escalation, reassure allies, and respond to changes in Russia’s posturing.
The stationing of nuclear weapons is a convenient loophole to the safeguards of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). While certain countries under the NPT are non-nuclear weapons states and cannot develop their own nuclear weapons programs, they can host weapons stationed by nuclear weapons states.
Traditionally, nuclear powers have managed the entire control of their weapons—for example, by locating the nuclear weapons on joint bases.
However, while this control exists as a safeguard, stationing nuclear weapons as a means of posturing raises the question of what the difference is between “stationing” and “proliferating.”
If near-term security concerns are well-served by the recent US decision to move nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom, it could augment the US practice of stationing nuclear weapons in other countries—a practice with potentially harmful consequences for long-term nonproliferation goals.
Why the United Kingdom
As the closest US ally, the United Kingdom serves as an interesting location for this latest round of nuclear posturing, given that it already has its own nuclear arsenal.
Historically, the United States and United Kingdom have worked together closely on the development of nuclear weapons, starting with collaborations on the Manhattan Project. Since the 1960s, the United States started deploying nuclear weapons to the United Kingdom at regular intervals.
This practice carried on until 2008, when the United States removed approximately 110 B-61 nuclear bombs from the Royal Air Force base at Lakenheath—the same base believed to soon receive US nuclear weapons again. At the time the United States kept this withdrawal quiet, but some experts believed that it was intended to reduce and consolidate US nuclear forces in Europe.
Like with the secrecy in 2008, the United States has once again not formally commented on its recent shift in posture to re-station nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom. As a spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Defence said of the US decision, “it remains a longstanding UK and NATO policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at a given location.”
Why station nuclear weapons?
While the reasons behind this recent US decision are uncertain, stationing nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom potentially serves several US national interests.
The first and foremost reason may be to respond to growing tensions with Russia. NATO countries are very concerned about the Russian aggression and recently warned that there was a high likelihood for full-scale war with Russia within the next two decades.
In addition, the United States did not make the first move: Russia stationed nuclear weapons in Belarus and revoked its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty last year. The stationing of US nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom in response appears therefore somewhat predictable, given the general Cold War mentality of responding in-kind to shifts in doctrine.
The decision to station nuclear weapons therefore postures the United States as paying attention to Russia’s recent escalations and signals its willingness to respond in the future with nuclear weapons, if necessary.
This decision reinforces the US nuclear deterrence policy, which states that: “As long as nuclear weapons exist, the fundamental role of US nuclear weapons is to deter nuclear attack on the United States, our allies, and partners.”
The US decision can also be interpreted as aiming to complement—and therefore strengthen—the UK nuclear weapons arsenal. Currently, the United Kingdom has the smallest inventory of any of the NPT’s nuclear weapons states, and these warheads are all based at sea.
Meanwhile, the nuclear weapons that the United States will likely station in the United Kingdom are B61-12 gravity bombs, which are deployable by aircraft. This deployment would enable forces in the region to have further and distinct second-strike capabilities, while adding to the overall strength of NATO forces across Europe.
Finally, the US decision is one of the safest, when compared to other posturing options. It is no doubt safer to place nuclear weapons in countries already possessing nuclear weapons, like the United Kingdom, than in those that don’t, like Turkey.
Nuclear weapons states are lower risk as they would have minimal interest in proliferating these weapons. In addition, the United Kingdom already has sophisticated security systems and safeguards that would reduce both security risks and costs for the United States.
So why worry?
The stationing of US nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom is unlikely to increase the physical risk of proliferation: Malicious actors are not more likely to gain access to nuclear weapons given the UK security apparatus. However, there are potential risks to the framework of nonproliferation itself.
By re-stationing nuclear weapons in the United Kingdom, the United States is conveying that it is concerned over current nuclear tensions and that it might need to respond with nuclear weapons if attacked, which could increase future incentives for proliferation.
Stationing nuclear weapons in non-nuclear weapons states has always been an interesting gap in the nuclear nonproliferation frameworks of the NPT. However, regardless of the differences between “stationing” and “proliferating” nuclear weapons, the overall expansion of nuclear weapons still risks a cycle of escalation.
Actions like the recent US decision may reduce taboos on the expansive stationing of nuclear weapons, thereby providing incentives for proliferation as a solution to counter increased aggression by countries, like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
For example, some Ukrainian policymakers have already unofficially suggested that Ukraine should “restore [its] nuclear status”—which means developing its own nuclear weapons—to deter Russia. Although such statements are intended to convince the United States and NATO to provide Ukraine with some form of nuclear guarantees, they also suggest that an increasing need for nuclear deterrence inherently comes with increased risk of nuclear proliferation.
The risk of escalation may explain the current US and NATO strategy of stationing nuclear weapons semi-secretively. The United States ensures that its adversaries know that it is stationing nuclear weapons in allied countries like the United Kingdom, but adversaries are left with uncertainties about where those forces exactly are as the United States never formally discusses this posture.
This strategy not only increases US deterrence, it may also reduce some of the escalatory impact of explicitly re-positioning nuclear weapons, while still allowing the United States to respond to Russia.
Given proliferation concerns, such escalation-control practices are therefore important to maintain as the United States moves nuclear weapons to the United Kingdom, as well as other countries in the future.
Although it is yet to be seen if the recent US decision has a meaningful impact on nonproliferation, nuclear powers must work to prevent nuclear weapons stationing from eroding norms surrounding nuclear nonproliferation.
Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Janani Mohan, a PhD candidate in international studies at Cambridge University, is a Gates Cambridge Scholar. She holds a MA in international policy.
IPS UN Bureau
AI must have net zero emissions to uphold our climate goals. Credit: Shutterstock
By Philippe Benoit
WASHINGTON DC, Apr 25 2024 – Artificial intelligence provides amazing potential for advancement across fields, from medicine to agriculture to industry to the entertainment business, even as it generates significant concerns. AI can also improve the efficiency of energy production and use in ways that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
But AI requires a lot of computational capacity, powered by electricity which can in turn generate additional emissions.
Unfortunately, according to the climate modeling of the International Energy Agency and others, there isn’t room for a new additional source of energy emissions. Consequently, AI must have net zero emissions to uphold our climate goals.
AI can lower emissions in a multitude of activities across a variety of sectors. For example, AI can help reduce the emissions from manufacturing, food systems and road transport while increasing zero-carbon electricity production from solar and wind farms.
As AI and the necessity for more electricity production take off and possibly accelerate even beyond current projections, it is important to manage potentially significant increases in greenhouse gas emissions that would undermine our climate goals
But recent reports point to burgeoning demand, notably in the U.S., for more electricity production, driven in part by the computing needs of AI. With that comes related rising emissions.
Moreover, as Nividia announced its newest, most powerful AI performance chip, rising demand for AI and the electricity it needs will likely increase even further. And this will happen not just in the U.S., but worldwide, as reflected in Saudi Arabia’s plan to invest $40 billion in AI.
While there may be some efficiency gains because of AI, we can anticipate a net increase in electricity demand, particularly as the entertainment industry and others develop new and creative uses for AI.
This AI-driven increase will likely begin within the next several years, well before the power network has had the time to convert from the current fossil fuel-based system to a low-emissions renewables-dominated one.
Consequently, expect more emissions from the power sector in the near term. Over the longer term, it will also reduce the available carbon budget, which is the amount of future emissions that can be accommodated within internationally agreed temperature targets.
The IEA’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 climate scenario and similar climate pathways are built on balancing carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector and carbon dioxide removals. Deploying renewables, energy efficiency, fuel switching and other low-carbon technologies are keys to lowering emissions to a level that can be balanced through removals.
Unmanaged AI, however, may hamper this effort, as its thirst for electricity results in a potential new source of emissions to be eliminated. AI needs to “pay for itself” regarding the climate by having net zero emissions and, preferably, even net negative emissions.
How can we accomplish this? First, there must be a concerted effort to power data centers and other AI-related infrastructure through renewables in a manner that does not cannibalize low-emissions electricity generation projects for households and other consumers. Governments and the private sector — including local or remote data center users and private capital — must work together to increase investment in and accelerate renewables deployment.
A second possible tool is to add a high load computational surcharge for AI users and possibly other large computer activities, such as cryptocurrency mining, to help finance additional investment in renewables.
Third, AI’s climate impact should be added to discussions on managing possible negative effects, such as AI’s potential for misinformation and disruptions to job markets. For example, the United Nations recently approved a U.S.-led resolution to make AI “safe, secure and trustworthy.” Similar initiatives need to be expanded to address AI’s potential emissions impact.
Fourth, and potentially most effectively, AI needs to be turned on itself to find mechanisms that result in net zero emissions and even make net negative emissions possible. This should include the development of innovative emissions reduction measures, as well as more ways to increase zero-carbon electricity production with a focus on achievable solutions.
There is also a need for better methodologies to measure both the increase and the savings in emissions that AI generates. This fourth pole should involve a combination of private sector-led action, inter-governmental initiatives and public-private research efforts.
As AI and the necessity for more electricity production take off and possibly accelerate even beyond current projections, it is important to manage potentially significant increases in greenhouse gas emissions that would undermine our climate goals. Governments, businesses and others should integrate the need for net zero AI emissions into their discussions on addressing AI’s impacts.
This oped was first published in The Hill
Philippe Benoit is the managing director at Global Infrastructure Advisory Services 2050. He previously held energy sector management positions at the International Energy Agency and the World Bank, and most recently was adjunct senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.
Aid agencies say that refugees caught on the Polish and Belarus borders are subject to brutal pushbacks. Graphic: IPS
By Ed Holt
BRATISLAVA, Apr 25 2024 – As the refugee crisis on the Belarus/EU borders approaches its fourth year, a crackdown on activism in Belarus is worsening the situation for migrants stuck in a “death zone” as they attempt to leave the country.
Groups working with refugees say the repression of NGOs in Belarus has led to many organizations stopping their aid work for migrants, leaving them with limited or no humanitarian help.
And although international organizations are operating in the country providing some services to refugees, NGOs fear it is not enough.
“There have been elevated levels of violence [against refugees from border guards] since the start of this crisis. But what has got worse is that before there were more people willing to help these refugees in Belarus, but now there is pretty much no one there helping as activism can be punished criminally in the country,” Enira Bronitskaya, human rights activist at Belarussian NGO Human Constanta, which was forced to pull out of the country and now operates from Poland, told IPS.
Since the start of the refugee crisis on the Belarus/EU border in the summer of 2021, rights groups have spoken out over brutal refugee ‘pushbacks’ by guards on both sides of the border.
Some have accused Minsk of manufacturing the crisis as a response to EU sanctions. They say Belarusian authorities actively organize, encourage, and even force migrants to attempt crossings over the border, but at the same time sanction violent and degrading treatment of those same migrants by border guards.
But others have also raised issue with what they say are equally violent and inhumane methods used by EU border guards in Poland, Latvia and Lithuania against those same migrants, as well as systematic breaches of their rights to claim asylum.
“These people are subjected to numerous forms of violence, both by Belarusian and Polish border guards. We’ve seen bruises, black eyes, knocked-out teeth after blows, kicks or hits with the back of rifles, irritation of skin and eyes after being sprayed with pepper gas, and teeth marks after dog bites,” Bartek Rumienczyk of the Polish NGO We Are Monitoring (WAM), which helps migrants who arrive in Poland from Belarus, told IPS.
“We also tell people they are entitled to ask for international protection in Poland, but in practice, these pleas are often ignored by border guards. We have witnessed numerous situations when people were asking for asylum in our presence and still they were pushed back to Belarus,” he added
These practices leave people stranded between the two borders in terrible conditions. Some aid workers describe it as a “death zone”.
“Refugees who manage to make it over [into the EU] talk about the ‘death zone’ between fences on the EU border and razor wires on the Belarus side and border guards who will not let them back into Belarus. They are therefore stuck there,” Joanna Ladomirska, Medical Coordinator for Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) in Poland, told IPS.
“This death zone runs all along the Belarus/EU border, and it is huge—maybe tens of thousands of square kilometers—and no one knows how many people might have died there, or might be there needing treatment. My worry is that no one has access to this zone—not NGOs, no one,” she added.
At least 94 people have been known to have died in the border area since the start of the crisis, according to Human Constanta’s research, although it is thought many more may have also lost their lives.
Those that do manage to cross the border are invariably injured, some seriously. Exhaustion, hypothermia, and gastrointestinal affections because migrants have been forced to drink water from swamps or rivers are common, while almost a third of them have trench foot, and many have suffered serious injuries from razor- and barbed-wire fences. Some have also had to have parts of their limbs amputated due to frostbite, according to aid groups providing medical care to them.
Although both international and local organizations continue to work to help migrants on the EU side of the border, this is much more limited on the Belarusian side, say those working directly with migrants.
Since mass protests following his re-election in 2020, autocratic Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has implemented a sweeping crackdown on dissent. This has seen, among others, widespread prosecutions of workers in civil society.
Many NGOs, including some that had previously helped migrants, have been forced to close, leaving only a handful of major international organizations to do what they can for migrants.
However, questions have been raised about how effective their operations are.
“There are international organizations like the ICRC that are working with the Red Cross, but the Belarus Red Cross is only handing out food parcels in certain areas; it’s not a regular, stable supply,” said Bronitskaya.
“Basically, there is no one there giving [the migrants] the help they need. It is very possible there will be even more deaths than before,” she added.
But it is not just those stuck between the borders who are struggling to get help.
Anyone who fails to get into the EU and finds themselves back in Belarus is classed as an irregular migrant, is unable to access healthcare or benefits, and cannot legally work.
Many quickly find themselves in poverty, living in constant fear of being discovered by immigration authorities, and vulnerable to exploitation. Some aid workers told IPS they had heard of migrants in Minsk and other Belarussian cities forced to turn to prostitution to pay to support themselves.
Facing such problems, many decide they have little choice but to attempt the crossing again despite the risks.
Aid organizations and global rights groups say governments in EU countries and in Minsk must adhere to their obligations to protect the rights of these migrants.
“It’s not the best approach to the situation if the EU makes it difficult or impossible to cross its border by building walls or putting up legal barriers, nor is it good if Belarus creates a situation where people are stranded,” Normal Sitali, Medical Operations Manager for Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) in Belarus, told IPS.
“There must be unhindered access to the border area for independent humanitarian organizations and for international and civil society organizations to respond to the dire situation there. Governments need to look at ensuring access to healthcare for these people so that international organizations do not need to provide and pay for it; they also need to look at legal protections for them; and they need to examine how these people can be ensured the space and protection to claim their rights as individuals while in transit,” he added.
MSF, which helped thousands of migrants during the crisis, last year stopped providing services to them after deciding migrants’ medical needs were outweighed by their need for protection and legal support, which MSF says can only be provided by dedicated organisations with specific expertise.
But some doubt the situation will improve any time soon with political relations between Belarus and the EU badly strained.
“Governments need to do something but the political situation makes things complicated. EU governments will not negotiate with Lukashenko because of the repressions going on in Belarus. Unless there is some significant change, nothing is going to get better,” said Bronitskaya.
However, others are hopeful of change.
Officials in Poland’s new government, which came to power in December last year, have claimed the number of pushbacks has fallen under the new administration and said a new border and migration policy is being drawn up that would treat the protection of human rights as a priority. Plans are also being put in place for the border forces to set up special search and rescue groups to stop humanitarian crises at the country’s borders, they have said.
“As a European country, [Poland] should respect European human rights laws and provide people with access to safety. You don’t need to negotiate with the Belarus regime to do that,” Ladomirska told IPS.
“I hope that with the new Polish government, something might change. We’re talking to them; change is feasible, and with the new government, there is an opportunity for that change.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
Renewable energy for small island states formed part of the debate at the Fourteenth Session of the IRENA Assembly in Abu Dhabi. Credit: Amitava Chandra / Climate Visuals
By Aimable Twahirwa
ABU DHABI, Apr 24 2024 – Small Island Developing States (SIDS), a distinct group of 39 states and 18 associate members, are making efforts to promote the blue economy as they possess enormous potential for renewable energy relying on the sea.
Experts predict that switching to renewables will help SIDS countries decarbonize power generation as an appropriate option for islands to cut their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, fulfill Paris Agreement pledges and contribute to the global fight against climate change.
In addition, ocean energy technologies, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), are likely to offer high predictability, making them suitable to provide a continuous supply of power.
Dr Vince Henderson, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business, Trade, and Energy, Dominican Republic, told IPS that the key has been prioritizing the development of various forms of renewable energies, focusing on clean and efficient energy exploration and exploitation.
While SIDS have shown climate leadership through 100 percent renewable energy ambitions, experts believe that realizing these ambitions is critical.
“Renewable energy innovations are a winning formula for our blue economy’s development,” said Henderson, whose country generates 85 percent of its electricity from imported fossil fuels.
A delegation of Ministers from SIDS member countries addressed a press briefing at the Fourteenth Session of the IRENA Assembly in Abu Dhabi. Experts predict that the widespread use of renewable energy among SIDS could have a positive impact on reducing the cost of renewable energy. Credit: Aimable Twahirwa/IPS
By 2030, the renewable energy generation output for the whole SIDS member states is anticipated to reach 9.9 GW from current 5 GW.
According to an analysis by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) on the updated NDCs, a minimum investment of USD 10.5 billion is required to meet the additional capacity target, of which 3.2 GW is dependent on external financial assistance.
“Improving a new system for mobilizing the much-needed financing to implement effective decarbonization actions is crucial,” Henderson said in an exclusive interview.
While some experts believe that the widespread use of renewable energy among SIDS could have a positive impact on reducing the cost of renewable energy, such as solar photovoltaic, wind, and bioenergy, providing reliable and affordable electricity is considered an important step to ensure that the SIDS population is accessible to reliable social services such as health, education, public transport, and housing services.
Arieta Gonelevu Rakai, Regional Programme Officer, Islands, at the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), told IPS that despite progress achieved in decarbonizing the electricity sector, challenges remain in transport, industry, tourism, and services for islands.
The ambitious target means that Island states will continue to upgrade renewable technologies to stimulate the rapid expansion of renewable energy installation while improving the efficiency and stability of power generation
“International cooperation and collaborations between governments, regional and multilateral institutions, and the public and private sector are needed to drive this transformation,” said Rakai during an exclusive interview.
Through established partnerships such as the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative (LHI), which is coordinated by IRENA, small islands saw a steady increase in the newly-installed capacity of clean energy thanks to a partnership with various stakeholders working with donor agencies to provide streamlined access to grants.
While new efforts seek to explore energy for the benefits of blue economic resources, some experts believe that renewable technologies, although not yet cost competitive with fossil fuels, are set to become less costly over time.
Miriam Dalli, Malta’s Minister of Environment, Energy, and Regeneration of the Grand Harbour, stressed that for small islands to meet their internal electricity demand while reducing their imports of electricity and fossil fuels, the development of alternative energy sources is crucial.
For example, Malta, being an archipelago situated in the Mediterranean Sea, in which the islands generally use diesel generators to produce electrical power, is emphasizing increasing the share of primary energy consumption that comes from renewable technologies, with a major focus on solar and wind that sweeps its coasts and land.
Sea wave energy happens to be another source of renewable energy in Malta, using the energy released by the wave to produce energy.
“Marine energy is turning to be the most viable means for Small Island’s energy generation,” Dalli told IPS of the initiatives currently undertaken by the Mediterranean Archipelago to shift from fossil fuels to clean energy.
Scientists and decision-makers gathered earlier last week in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for the 14th Session of the IRENA Assembly. Current global efforts to decarbonize both energy supply and demand from renewable sources such as wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, and biomass can help small islands reap the benefits of a rapidly growing ocean economy.
According to the latest IRENA’s projections, ocean energy can provide clean, local and predictable electricity to coastal countries and island communities around the world, with the potential to generate a total capacity of 350 gigawatts (GW) by 2050.
The deployment of ocean energy technologies, according to experts, can also facilitate new revenue streams and higher cash flows for territories, helping to reduce the levelized cost of electricity in these locations.
Kerryne James, Minister of Climate Resilience, Environment, and Renewable Energy of Grenada, points out that some islands, such as Grenada, are perfect for solar and geothermal power.
Grenada’s clean energy goals for increasing energy efficiency and implementing renewable energy from geothermal, wind, and solar technologies are matched by its renewable resources, which more than exceed current electric sector capacity.
“We are currently implementing appropriate plans to further explore various renewable energy sources and support grid resilience,” she told IPS.
IPS UN Bureau Report